BP UK has announced that it will continue to invest in the security of its retail team members by rolling out the Auror retail crime intelligence platform across its 300 company-owned stores.
It will also implement Reveal body-worn cameras at stores experiencing higher levels of abuse and crime.
These initiatives are part of BP UK’s approach to keeping colleagues and customers safe by increasing its capabilities to gather and share intelligence on retail crime, implementing store hardening measures and introducing some of the latest technological advancements to combat retail crime effectively.
“Safety comes first at BP. We are always looking at ways to create a safer working environment for colleagues and a better retail experience for customers. We serve millions of customers every week, and the vast majority of transactions are pleasant and positive,” said Sonya Adams, VP of Mobility and Convenience Retail in the UK.
“However, in line with the rest of the industry, we are seeing an increase in retail crime and abuse of our colleagues, and that’s unacceptable. We will continue to collaborate with others across the sector and invest in technology like Auror and Reveal body cameras to help us combat these issues.”
Auror is being adopted by all 300 of BP UK’s company-owned stores over the coming months. It has been widely recognised as an industry-leading tool that helps reduce abuse incidents and tackle retail crime by enabling swift post-event incident reporting, identification of repeat offenders, seamless collaboration with law enforcement, and real-time alerts on local criminal activities.
“Crime fuels some of the worst parts of our society. Regardless of the brand or size of the store, crime in retail isn’t isolated or small-scale. In fact, 10 percent of offenders cause over 60 percent of the loss and violence in our retail communities,” said Mark Gleeson, Auror VP UK & Europe.
“Auror is committed to partnering with BP across the UK to help connect crime and stop criminal networks' impact. For an organisation like BP that has stores ranging from multiple colleagues to sometimes just one individual on-site, creating a safer environment for BP’s retail colleagues with Auror is essential, and we are thrilled to be partnering with BP to enable that.”
The further rollout of Reveal body cameras follows a successful pilot in 2023 when they were tested at eight stores in the UK that were facing high levels of verbal abuse. The introduction of the cameras resulted in a decrease in verbal abuse incidents, and collaboration with the local police produced positive results.
In several instances, customers apologised for their behaviour as a direct result of seeing their actions on the front-facing screens of the Reveal body-worn cameras.
They are currently in use at 70 stores across the UK and are being implemented at a rapid pace across the network at stores with the highest incident rates.
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